The 'yellow vests' of France mobilize for a new round of protests

PARIS: Thousands of anti-government demonstrators marched in cities
across France on Saturday in a new round of "yellow vest" protests
against President Emmanuel Macron, accused of
ignoring the plight of millions of people struggling to make ends
meet.

Officials have vowed zero tolerance for the violence that has
marred the weekly protests since they began two months ago,
deploying some 80,000 security forces nationwide.

In Paris, epicentre of the fiery street clashes and vandalism that
have made global headlines, 5,000 riot police were on hand, using
tall barricades and armoured vehicles to lock down the central
Place de la Concorde and surrounding districts.

Hundreds of officers were also on guard on the Champs-Elysees,
where banks, jewellery stores and other shops had boarded up
windows in anticipation of renewed looting and violence.

Yet many cafes and retailers on the iconic avenue remained open for
business, as several thousands of protesters marched calmly from
the Place de la Bastille toward the Arc de Triomphe early in the
afternoon.

Many sang the "Marseillaise" national anthem, while others held
signs saying "Insecurity is not a job!"

At times the crowd yelled "Free Christophe!" in reference to
Christophe Dettinger, the former professional boxer arrested last
week after being filmed bashing two police officers during the
Paris demos.

Police said some 30 people had been detained in the capital earlier
for carrying weapons or other charges.

"We've come to Paris to make ourselves heard, and we wanted to see
for ourselves at least once what's going on here," said Patrick,
37, who told AFP he had travelled from the Savoie region of western
France.

In the well-heeled racehorsing town of Chantilly just north of
Paris, 1,000 or so protesters marched through the centre before
descending on the hippodrome where they delayed the start of a
race, local media said.

And another 1,200 protesters gathered in the central city of
Bourges, where some yellow-vest organisers were hoping to those
from areas far from the capital.

Signs said "Macron resign!" and "France is angry," while local
prosecutor Joel Garrigue said five people had been detained after
police discovered a cache of ball bearings during a search of their
car.

The protests also spilt over the border into eastern Belgium late
on Friday, where one of around 25 protesters manning a blockade
died after being hit by a truck, Belgian media reported.

Officials had warned of bigger and more violent protests than last
week, when demonstrators rammed a forklift truck through the main
doors of a government ministry in Paris.

"Those who are calling to demonstrate tomorrow know there will be
violence, and therefore they are in part responsible," Interior
minister Christophe Castaner said in a Facebook interview Friday with Brut, a
digital news site favoured by many yellow vests.

But many yellow vests pointed to images of a police officer
repeatedly striking an unarmed man on the ground during a protest
last week in Toulon, accusing the police of excessive use of
force.

The movement, which began as protests over high fuel taxes, has
snowballed into a wholesale rejection of Macron and his policies,
which are seen favouring the wealthy at the expense of rural and
small-town France.

Macron has called for a national debate starting next week to hear
voters' grievances, hoping to sate demands for more of a say in
national law-making and tamp down the protesters' anger.

But the public consultations risk being hobbled by record levels of
distrust towards politicians and representatives of the state.

A poll by the Cevipof political sciences institute released Friday
showed 77 per cent of respondents thought politicians inspired
"distrust", "disgust" or "boredom".

And Macron may not have done himself any favours on Friday, when he
told a gathering at the Elysee Palace that "too many of our
citizens think they can get something without making the necessary
effort."